ANFREL Calls for All Parties to Restrain Their Use of Force and Violence

ANFREL has been monitoring the ongoing political unrest in Nepal and is very much concerned to learn about the killing of four protesters and over a hundred feared to be injured by the security men. It has learnt that the security forces reportedly opened to firing bullets, tear gas shells and using baton-charges indiscriminately at over 50,000 pro-democracy protestors in the Jhapa district of Nepal.

ANFREL strongly condemns such indiscriminate firing and use of excessive force by the security personnel of Nepal on the demonstrators. We would like to point out that Nepal is committed to the International Bill of Rights and is also a signatory to the ICCPR. Article 25 of the ICCPR clearly states that every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity, without any of the distinctions mentioned in article 2 and without unreasonable restrictions to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

ANFREL also notes that the General Comment No. 25 on "The right to participate in public affairs, voting rights and the right of equal access to public service " upholds the right of the peoples for self-determination and the right to freely determine their political status and to enjoy the right to choose the form of their constitution or government. Article 25 thus allows the individuals the right to participate in the conduct of public affairs. Public affair according to the GC No. 25, relates to, "the exercise of political power, in particular the exercise of legislative, executive and administrative powers and also covers all aspects of public administration, and the formulation and implementation of policy at international, national, regional and local levels."

ANFREL however does not condone the acts of violence carried out by the protestors while staging their demonstrations. It strongly opposed use of violence in achieving the democratic goal of complete democracy for Nepal.

ANFREL calls for all parties to restrain their use of force and violence and to uphold the human rights laws, to maintain respect for non-derogable rights. It also appeals to all demonstrators to use non-violent means for demonstrations in conformity with Article 21 and 22 of the ICCPR for peaceful assembly and association for expressing their political rights. We call for a peaceful and amicable solution to be found through dialogue among all the parties concerned and to keep the interest of the people of Nepal at the helm of all affairs while arriving at any solution.

Secretariat Office
April 20th, 2006